Traditional motel designs have focused on making the bathroom as "tight"
as possible within a floor space of 40 or 50 square feet, so the remainder
of the guestroom can have more space. This makes the tub-toilet-vanity
relationship the subject of frequent jokes, limits vanity space, and reinforces
the guest's perception that his room was clearly "built to a price." Placing
the lavatory sink outside the tub-toilet area lessens privacy and convenience,
can expose carpeted areas to spillage, and further shrinks the tub and
toilet space.
We've improved our bathroom by eliminating rectangular thinking. In
our design, the pathway into the bathroom is at a 45-degree angle to its
7'- 4" square space. On one side, a proprietary one-piece bath/shower combination
with a built-in seat is both attractive and easy to install and maintain.
On the other side, a triangular, solid-surface lavatory sink has both unusually
large surface area and easy access. And the toilet is far enough from the
door that the "door in the knees" collision simply won't happen. The angle
of the door both allows for an opening wide enough to meet the currrent
ADA code requirements, and increases the feeling of spaciousness when a
guest first enters the room.
No doubt about it - the most cost-efficient HVAC system for a limited-service property is the individual package unit. It's less expensive to purchase and install. If there is trouble, only one room goes out of service while it's repaired. Guests have become resigned to finding a "wall-banger" in economy and even midprice properties. We're going to surprise them.
The disadvantages of the package unit are well-known: they shake, rattle and roll. Even the quietest new designs are installed in a hole in the wall, resonate the wall when the compressor starts, generate constant fan noise, blow directly over the sleeping guest, and have a confusing array of knobs and buttons at the guest's knee level.
Our solution is the best of both worlds. We had national HVAC distributors package the same proven parts and pieces in a vertical configuration, which we frame into a corner of the room, surrounded by insulation and drywall.
An access panel on the closet side allows maintenance and with an integral return air grille with a filter rack allows easy filter changing. Conditioned air is supplied at the ceiling level, eliminating drafts. And a residential-style thermostat, at an accessible level, controls the unit.
Advantages? It's securely mounted behind an insulated enclosure, so it's quiet. It's in the corner of the room, so it doesn't protrude into valuable end-wall space. It looks like a quality, central system. It's easy for the guest to understand the controls. Guest focus groups overwhelmingly applauded this innovative system in our testing, and its incremental cost over a conventional package unit is relatively small.
Our HVAC design eliminates a major source of room noise, but how about
noise from adjacent rooms? We stagger 2X4" studs on 6" sills and plates
and weave sound insulation between them. The result is less resonance from
room-to-room, greater sound muffling, and an "STC" rating of over 53. With
enclosed HVAC, tight-fitting doors, staggered-stud walls and "Gypcrete"
or light-weight concrete poured over the floor sheathing, our guests will
sleep as quietly in our properties as they will in our higher-priced competitors.